Last week as we headed west on a little road trip, we had the privilege of enjoying this amazing sunset (which was really way better than the picture suggests--the clouds were lit up). Scenes like that, beauty like that, just does something in my heart. It moves me.
So as I drove I pondered beauty. What makes something beautiful? Is it the contrast to what is ugly? Is it simply being "not-ugly" that makes it beautiful? Is it a certain combination of light and color or notes and instruments or eyes and nose?
I'm not sure there is ultimately a way to qualify or quantify beauty. Yes, we do it all the time. Science has determined what proportions make a face most attractive and critics can tell us why a particular piece of art or music is beautiful. We often compare and contrast things to explain what we see as beautiful, but is all that really what determines something (or someone's) beauty? What I see as beautiful may not appear to be beautiful to you.
Just like Truth, beauty moves our hearts. When we're living in the present moment and see something beautiful, it just moves us, no explanation necessary. There is no need for the contrast of ugliness to see that something is beautiful. In fact, there is beauty to be found in even the ugliest scene, thing, place, or person -- because somewhere, somehow, God is there. His beauty is always there to be found if we only have eyes to see.
When we see something beautiful we often want to capture it, thinking that we can hold on to that moment, to that particular sensation of beauty. But the memory, the picture is never quite the same. But the cool thing is, there's always more beauty to be found when we let one moment of beauty go and keep moving forward with open eyes and open hearts.
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